From Russia With Love
by TheEffectstOfBoredom
Summary: Contractors and winter were practically one and the same. Both cold. Both distant. But if the winter frost could thaw, maybe, just maybe, a Contractor could know what it was to feel human again.


This is a day of firsts for me. First time writing for Darker than Black (obviously), first time writing a same-gender pairing, first time being inspired to write by a friend's poem-story-hybrid (a passage of which, has been included with his permission), and pretty much just a first attempt all around. Did I mention first enough? Eh, not important. Anyhoo, please forgive me for using the word "love" in two consecutive titles, but the reference just fit too perfectly.

 _WARNING:_ This story contains lemon of the yuri variety. Proceed at your own risk.

The Darker than Black franchise is the property of those who put forth the time and effort to create it, of which, I am not one of.

* * *

 _Blood in the water_

 _Dirt in the grave_

 _She'd lost so much_

 _That she'd wanted to save_

 _If this was the hour_

 _It all turned to black_

 _She'd reach out her hand_

 _And steal something back_

* * *

Contractors were a being unto themselves.

To some, they were superhuman. To others, they were monsters beyond compare. Both descriptions could be considered correct in technical terms. Contractors were, after all, far beyond normal.

Perfectly rational, in body and mind, driven not by their wants or desires, but by the pure pragmatic ideology of self-preservation. With the powers of gods at their fingertips, they kept their own emotions behind iron bars, buried so deep that none but those closest to them would even be able to tell they were there. They acted without doubt. They killed without hesitation. Friendship and loyalty were nothing more than words in their eyes. They were, by all accounts, the perfect weapons.

So why, _why_ , was it so hard for her to wrap her head around it?

Suou's grip on her rifle tightened, keeping the obscenely large weapon trained on the target in front of her. Down below, in front of the grime coated pool she'd been hiding in not long ago, one of her oldest friends stared back at her.

 _Tanya._

The name brought memories with it. Feelings of warmth amidst the chill of the Russian climate. Laughs and smiles, shared among friends. A youth she'd thought would last forever. A happiness she'd hoped to always have.

But there was little left of the girl she knew. Emerald eyes met piercing blue. Those soft features she'd once known, held in rigid tension, frozen in a moment of life and death as the two squared off. Her rifle held steady, trained to end the life of someone she'd cherished for so long.

There was no way out. For either of them.

If she pulled the trigger, Tanya would die. No amount of insects she could control would be able to stop the bullet, and at this range, Suou couldn't miss even if she tried.

If she held back, she would die. Either being captured and enslaved by the military agents that had claimed her former friend, or eaten alive by insects just like…

She grit her teeth, slamming down on the memory which tore through her head. Her pulse was racing, faster than it had any right to. She was a Contractor. Killing was supposed to be second nature. But even now, after having been hounded, threatened, and attacked by the girl in front of her, something refused to do it.

She remembered the times they'd shared. The _life_ they'd shared. The carefree times they'd gone through together, bonding in the moments of their growing lives.

Her instincts ordered her to finish it. Tanya was a threat. She had to be eliminated, and there would be no second chances. She'd already made her loyalties clear. There was no reason to hesitate.

Her humanity screamed at her to stop. Tanya was her friend. She'd seen the glimpses of recollection peering through the icy curtain that surrounded her. If there was even the slightest chance that she could be saved…

Fight. Flight. Kill. Stop. She had to… to…

" _Don't shoot!"_

An image burst into her mind, unbidden. A memory of Hei, intervening as She was about to throw her humanity away. Stopping her from spilling blood. Stopping her from becoming a killer. Making her promise that she wouldn't follow that path.

"That's right…" Suou breathed, the anti-tank rifle sagging in her hands. "I can't…"

She didn't know whether to laugh or cry as her aim slipped away, the moment of intensity passing over her like a sweeping storm. Relief and fear clamped down on her chest in equal measure, blending together in a swirling cocktail of raw emotion, threatening to topple her balance as her heart fluttered in her chest.

Across from her, Tanya stared back openmouthed, her impassive demeanor temporarily broken in a total lack of comprehension. No doubt, she'd fully expected to die in that instant.

Suou shuddered, both from the cold air around them as well as from what she'd been about to do. Hei had stopped her, even after having nearly brought her to that point himself. He'd allowed her some remnant of humanity in her soul, and even if she knew it should be impossible to keep such a thing after becoming a Contractor, she would cling to it for all she was worth.

But she didn't have time for that now. Tanya would recover at any moment, and when she did, there was no telling what would-

Time froze. From the furthest periphery of her vision, Suou saw it. A far-off glint that, had she been any other kind of girl, would have meant nothing to her. A tiny, miniscule, reflection of light, barely even visible from the vast distance, that sent a storm surge coursing through her veins.

A sniper scope.

The logical action would have been to dive for cover. If she were the target, she could be a split second from death. She should have fled, and yet… somehow, someway, she knew that wasn't the case. Whether it was a subconscious carryover from her time spent hunting with her father, a side-effect of the training she'd done with her own weapon, or some indescribable instinct brought on by her power, she knew that gun wasn't aimed at her.

There was no time to think. Before the image of what she'd seen had even fully registered in her mind, she was rocketing forwards. Her feet were already touching the balcony of the seating arrangement by the time she heard the clang of her discarded rifle hitting the ground. Tanya's eyes widened, taking an instinctive step backwards from the charge. Suou gasped, drawing in a deep breath for what was about to happen.

And she flew.

With speed driven by pure adrenaline, she threw herself from the precipice, launching towards the other girl like a living missile. That moment, hovering in mid-air above her friend, couldn't have lasted for more than a fraction of an instant, but to Suou, it felt like an eternity.

 _I won't…_

She fell, crashing into Tanya's chest and tackling her backwards. The impact nearly knocked the breath out of her, but desperation and sheer, stubborn will kept her intact.

… _let anyone else…_

Not an instant later, searing, vicious pain tore across her back as the bullet meant to end Tanya's life grazed her body instead, the distant sound of the gunshot following in its wake.

… _die on me!_

Time reasserted itself, and Suou was catapulted into the pool by her own momentum, dragging Tanya down with her. The two pounded into the water with a resounding splash, momentary vertigo slamming her senses as she hit.

Hei's training was not for nothing, and the impact that should have stunned her did nothing more than give her a moment's pause. The instant her focus returned, she kicked through the water, one hand firmly grasping Tanya's wrist and pulling her along as she frantically tried to put put distance between them and where the shot had landed.

It was brutally difficult. Held down both by her soaked clothing and Tanya's struggling weight, while fighting the agony in racing across her back, it was all she could do to keep moving forwards. A fresh lance of dread pierced her heart as she felt the motion of the other girl's body begin to weaken in her grasp, Tanya's breath having been entirely stolen during the impact.

Her fear of the unseen enemy battled with the danger they were in underwater, forcing her thoughts into a half-panicked mess of disjointed orders, but the immediate threat of drowning won out in the end. It would do them no good to hide. Their shelter would kill them just as surely as the shooter.

Kicking off from the bottom of the pool, Suou dragged the near-motionless Tanya upwards towards the surface, breaking through the veil of water like a stone through a window. The fragile barrier shattered, leaving her spluttering and gasping for breath as her lungs were filled with air once more. Behind her, she could hear the desperate choking of her passenger as she simultaneously fought to take in air while expelling the water she'd swallowed in the hectic collision.

"Come on!" Suou shouted back, dragging the other girl through the water with her. "We need to get inside! Now!"

She didn't know if Tanya would listen to her, or if she was even in a state to understand what she was commanding, but something in her tone must have reached through the confusion and chaos, because she no longer fought against her, and instead, began weakly paddling in the direction of the nearby building.

Looking back, Suou wouldn't be able to explain how she made it over the lip of the pool. Covered head to toe in waterlogged clothing, and dragging along someone who was both taller and heavier than she was, such a thing should have been an arduous and time-consuming process.

She cleared it in less than a second, practically flying up over the edge and pulling Tanya up with her in a single fluid motion. The adrenaline rush of being shot at had yet to fade, and she took full advantage, dashing towards the promise of protection behind the walls of the abandoned building faster even than when she was fleeing from her old home.

Tanya's longer stride proved invaluable, as she stumbled along in Suou's grasp, only just managing to keep her footing. Had she fallen, Suou didn't want to even consider their chances. But luck was on their side, as they managed to cross the distance to the structure, throw open the doors, and dash inside before their assailant could line up another shot.

Her pulse pounding like the drums of war in her ears, Suou sprinted through the open hallways with her companion in search of a suitable place to bunker down.

* * *

Several blocks away, from the rooftop of a distant building, Shion let out a shaky breath of relief as the echo of his rifle rung in his ears. For one terrible moment, he'd been terrified that the shot he'd taken at the blonde girl had instead taken the life of his sister. To have come so far, and accomplish so much, only to lose everything in a single irrational gesture would have been…

But no. Suou lived, and if the way she moved was any indication, she was still in workable shape. To have survived a near miss from a weapon designed to bring down armored vehicles was no small matter. Had it been even a few centimeters closer, she'd have been shorn apart.

Of course, none of the fear that had struck him showed through on his face. All his father noticed, being unable to make out any detail from this distance, was a pause after the initial shot.

"Shion?" He questioned, perhaps sensing that something had gone awry. "Is everything all right?"

The boy merely gave a small hum, musing over what had just happened in his head before shrugging his shoulders.

"It should be fine if she's that determined…" He said aloud, speaking more to himself than his father. "Papa? Would you mind helping me? I think its best if we leave here for now before we attract any unwanted attention."

"Of course." Doctor Pavlichenko replied, reaching down to grab him. Shion accepted the offer, allowing himself to be raised up and carried off, silently contemplating what had just happened.

 _It should work out._ He concluded to himself. If the Contractor proved insistent on hostility at this point, Suou should be able to handle her from here. Or, failing that, she should at least be able to last until the Black Grim Reaper arrived.

Satisfied that the unexpected development wouldn't hinder things too drastically, the boy turned his attentions to other matters. There was still much he had to prepare for the coming days.

The new world wasn't going to make itself, after all.

* * *

Suou grimaced at her appearance in the locker room mirror. Her jacket was ruined utterly, and an angry red gash had been cut across her back. The wound wasn't deep, but the bruising that surrounded it was cause for some amount of concern. If nothing else, it would be very, _very_ , sore for a long while afterwards. Not to mention the possibility of infection given the high-speed swim through algae-coated water.

With a small sigh, she dropped the destroyed article of clothing to the side, shivering as the freezing air assaulted her skin. Her undershirt was far from helpful, having been torn open as well, and the sound of water drops falling to the ground followed her wherever she went, keeping up a constant reminder of just how miserable her situation had become.

She was cold, wet, hurt, and sharing a room with someone who had tried to kill her not too long ago. This was not how she'd envisioned her trip to Japan would go.

With a solemn gesture, she glanced towards Tanya, who sat in the corner of the room against a pair of lockers. She'd collapsed against the wall as soon as they'd entered, and had remained there, recovering while Suou caught her breath and assessed the damage she'd sustained. Now, Tanya was staring at her with the same empty gaze she'd come to associate with the Contractor that had replaced her friend, creating a chill that had nothing to do with the air temperature.

Suou fought back the urge to shudder, focusing instead on the task at hand. The building was vacant, meaning that there would be no help from staff or owners coming to investigate all the commotion. It was also unlikely they'd be able to leave given she wasn't sure just how much ground the sniper's vantage point could cover. Or rather, not sure enough to risk taking a bullet to the back of the head.

This place wasn't bad to hold out all things considered. It was a locker room, so the walls were thick and the windows high. Getting a good angle on them would be difficult so long as they were careful, so holding out until Hei tracked her down was a feasible plan. But until then…

Her eyes drifted to Tanya once more, meeting her unblinking stare with a small amount of concern. Right now, she wished that her power had been the ability to read another's thoughts rather than being able to summon a rifle from thin air. No matter how much she looked, there wasn't the slightest hint of what was going on behind Tanya's eyes.

Her attentions did garner some reaction however, as, after a moment of looking back, the girl raised one hand slowly up to the side of her head. With small, purposeful movements, she twirled her blonde hair around her finger, curling the strands into a fair bundle.

And proceeded to tear it off her own head.

Suou flinched despite herself at the unpleasant sound of hair being ripped out by the root. Even if Tanya's face gave no outward reaction to her remuneration, she knew that it must have been painful, especially given that she was soaked with water.

She repeated the process two more times, each one cracking against the silence like a bomb going off in such an enclosed space. When she'd had enough and satisfied the terms of her contract, she simply dropped her arm back into its previous position, leaving nothing to show she'd moved at all besides the clumps of wet hair on the ground and a small frayed patch beside her temple.

"Why?"

The question was so sudden and unexpected that Suou almost missed it entirely.

"Why what?" She asked back, giving Tanya a curious look.

"Why did you push me out of the way?"

It was said with such detachment, as if she was asking about what she'd had for dinner last night, rather than questioning why Suou had saved her life. It stung. It shouldn't have, and she honestly couldn't say _why_ it would, but it did.

"Because…" She said softly, trying to think of some way, any way, that she could hope to put something like this into words. "We're friends, aren't we?"

It was true. Prior to becoming Contractors, they'd been close friends. Even now, with the feelings and sensations she'd known back then dulled, she still understood that.

It was also a lie. Contractors didn't attach any value to such things. Even if they did, could she really claim there was any friendship left between the two of them after everything that had happened? Shouldn't they be enemies? Shouldn't they hate each other?

Suou didn't know the answer to that, but she knew that she didn't hate Tanya. Even if she knew she should after what had happened to Nika, she could still feel the overwhelming bitter taste of her relief when Hei had stopped her from following through on her execution back in the train yard. If she hated Tanya, killing her should have been easy. It wasn't, so that had to mean she didn't hate her, right?

Why did feelings have to be so confusing…?

The other girl didn't react, making it all the more frustrating. This kind of thing was supposed to be easy and self-explanatory for normal people. For Contractors, it wasn't even supposed to factor in at all. Yet here she was, caught between the two worlds, and left to flounder about as she tried to make sense of the way they pulled her along.

Somehow this was Hei's fault. She didn't know why, or how, or in what world that made sense, but it had to be. _That_ at least felt right.

Suou wanted to groan, but she just couldn't muster up the effort to do so. While she stood there, trapped in a rut, a chill ran up her back, and causing her to shiver as she was reminded of their current situation. An abandoned building meant no heating. No heating meant that the cold could still reach them. Cold weather meant that wet clothing was a quick road to hypothermia.

"Tanya…" She said, feeling far too vulnerable for reasons she couldn't say. "Did you catch your breath? We need to find someplace to warm up. If we don't, we'll freeze here."

Her icy blue eyes flicked up to Suou's own, momentarily reminding her of the fields of snow she'd known growing up. Pristine lakes, frozen over in the midst of winter. Somehow that analogy seemed to fit.

Without a word, Tanya rose to her feet, trailing one hand along the locker as she did so. A small puddle had formed at her feet, leaving behind the imprint of her position in the form of blinking water. She was shivering lightly, tiny droplets still falling from the corner of her clothing as she began to undress-

"Who- What are you doing!?" Suou exclaimed, taking a stumbling step back. The look that Tanya gave her as she nearly tripped over her own feet could only be described as quizzical.

"I'm removing my clothing." She stated as though it were the simplest thing in the world. "Wearing wet cloth in winter conditions causes you to lose body heat much faster."

Suou had no answer for that. Of course she _knew_ it was right. With a sniper on the loose, there was no safe exit, and she had no way of knowing where Hei was or when he would arrive. They might be stuck here for a little while, and that time could prove dangerous if she wasn't careful. It wasn't like she was completely clueless, but something about the way the other girl had just started…

She shook her head, ridding herself of the pointless thoughts. She had just been surprised was all. That's it. There was nothing strange about this, and even if there was, it shouldn't have mattered. It was logical. It was reasonable. That meant that she should have no trouble understanding the situation, and her cheeks were certainly not turning red at all.

Without giving herself time to second guess her actions, Suou began removing her own garments. Stripping her shirt proved to be an uncomfortable ordeal with her injury, but she managed to tug it off before she lost her nerve. There were no towels to dry off with, pretty much all of the lockers being completely empty, so she made due with using her top as a makeshift rag. Not the most effective tool, being already soaked itself, but it got the worst of water off.

Her pants were a bit more difficult, both because the soaked articles didn't slip off very easily, and because she found herself hesitating more and more as she undressed. Even if this was technically the 'right' option at the moment, getting down to her underwear next to someone who had been attacking her not long ago wasn't the most appealing of prospects.

With a bit of a shuffling motion, she managed to weave out of her bottoms, and drop them to the floor with an ungainly squelching sound. Already, she was starting to tremble as the cold began to seep into her skin, but she refused to let herself shake openly. She still had some level of pride, even if it was feeling a bit pointless right now.

With a shuddering breath, she stepped out of the pile of clothes, feeling the smooth tile underfoot as she wrapped her arms around herself for warmth. With the water mostly wiped away she felt slightly less chilled, but the lack of protection from the air made for an unpleasant tradeoff. To be frank, she wasn't even entirely certain it had been a net benefit or not.

She turned, intent on asking Tanya if she was suffering from the same problem, only for the words to catch in her throat.

In all fairness, it could have been more awkward. The blonde girl had, thankfully, kept her undergarments on the same as Suou, but the sudden sight of bare skin came as a momentary slap to the face, along with the reminder that she was in a similar position herself.

"Uhhh…" She quietly groaned to herself, not sure why she even felt compelled to. This shouldn't have been a problem. It wasn't even the first time she'd seen Tanya in her underwear. They'd changed in the locker room back at school together before, and there had also been that one time during an overnight stay at her house.

So why was this any different? Why did seeing her like this now cause her heart to jump? Was she afraid? She had every right to be after all that had happened between them, but that didn't feel quite right. She knew the feeling she had was like fear, but at the same time, there was something-

"Wah!"

Suou nearly jumped out of her skin as something warm touched her back without warning. Her feet twisted beneath her, and she almost toppled to the floor, only just managing to catch herself on an open locker as she spun around to find Tanya standing a short distance away, her arm half-extended, looking rather surprised at her outburst.

"What are you doing?" Suou demanded, more flustered than she wanted to admit.

"I was coming closer." The girl explained, giving her another odd look as though she had just started talking gibberish. "It would be better for both of us to share body heat at a time like this."

"…Share…?" She parroted, feeling the word drop from her mouth like a stone. Share? Why would they need to share? She didn't think she needed any more warmth right now. In fact, she felt a bit _too_ warm at the moment. Hadn't it been freezing just a second ago? Where had that gone anyway?

Another shiver ran up her spine, assuring her that the heat she was feeling was not based in reality. Just another brief delusion of a mind which she was quickly starting to lose her trust in.

Realizing that Tanya was expecting an actual response from her, Suou dropped to the ground, rapidly turning to face the opposite direction as her hands clamped down on her own shoulders.

"R-Right!" She agreed just a little too loudly. "Back to back then! That will… er… that should be fine, right?"

She wanted to slap herself. It was just silly how difficult this was. She was a Contractor, at least in part. To be falling over herself when it came to such a simple thing was beyond childish. If Hei could see her now…

A sudden surge of blood flooded her face as she desperately tried to think of literally _anything_ besides her grim-faced keeper finding her in this position.

Tanya, it seemed, read the situation enough to play along. She didn't voice any argument against the arrangement, and after a short pause, joined Suou on the floor. The smaller girl couldn't help but flinch ever so slightly as she felt Tanya's back pressed against her own, the warm touch bringing a welcome defense against the cold that had been lurking all around them even as it sent a jolt of pain out from her injury.

No more words were spoken after that. She was left alone with her thoughts, metaphorically speaking. The only sound in the locker room was the slipping of skin against tile as the two of them got comfortable and the background sound of the walls settling every now and then. It was a miserable experience for Suou who was stuck between the incessant emotional turmoil in her mind and the reality of her situation.

She grit her teeth, pulling her knees tightly against her chest. It wasn't supposed to be this difficult. What was she even worrying about? By now, she was confident that her distress had nothing to do with fear for her person. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she began to realize that her fear had nothing to do with herself at all. It was-

 _-over in an instant. The bullet tore through Tanya's midsection, nearly splitting her in half. A look of shock was permanently etched on her face as she tumbled back into the grimy pool, blood trailing in her wake as the echoing sound of a distant gunshot played the final dirge for the girl she'd once_ -

Suou tensed, her breath catching in her throat as the sudden hideous thought entered her mind. She could see it. _Feel_ it. She knew just how close it had come to being reality. The biting sensation in her back was enough to confirm that much. That was when it hit her.

She wasn't afraid _of_ Tanya. She was afraid _for_ Tanya.

Even after all that had happened, after her own life had been dragged into the nightmare of becoming a Contractor due to the actions of the very girl at her back, she still cared about her. She still held on the hope of returning to some semblance of the happy times they'd shared in the past.

 _Of course you do._ Said the logical voice in the back of her head. _Why else would you have jumped at the chance to push her away from the bullet otherwise? You could have been that corpse in the water had you been even slightly slower._

Was that it then? The reason she had so much difficulty being close and exposed? Because she was afraid of the world where she'd let that opportunity slip through her fingers? It didn't feel like a perfect fit, but…

Without thinking, Suou slowly began to turn. The girl at her back gave no outward signs of noticing as she turned herself around, and faced in her direction. The gesture sent a fresh wave of heat running through her system, but she forced it down, resolving to see this through even if she didn't fully understand it herself.

After a bit of hesitation, she slowly slipped her hands across Tanya's shoulders, and pulled her into a soft one-sided hug.

It wasn't quite what she'd anticipated. There was no sudden outburst of energy in her system, or a rush of emotion at the feeling of their contact, but she definitely felt something. It urged her closer, to wrap her arms around the girl tighter. She withheld on that, mostly due to the fear of creating a misunderstanding. Technically speaking, they were still on opposite sides, and taking any action that could be seen as hostile might provoke a serious reaction.

Much to her frustrated sense of tension however, Tanya answered her advance with apathy, neither moving to complete the gesture nor to push her away. For her, it was probably just a nice change given that more of her body was now covered, meaning she was slightly better protected from the cold.

But Suou wouldn't be satisfied with that. She needed… she didn't know what she needed, but she needed something other than silence.

"Tanya?" She questioned hesitantly, recalling their unfinished conversation on the train. Her voice sounding far more distant than she wanted. "Do you hate me?"

It wasn't what she'd intended to ask. Really, she hadn't intended to ask anything in particular, but the words had slipped from her grasp before she could think about them.

"No." Tanya answered, without hesitation or inflection.

"Are we still friends?" Suou asked.

She had no real idea where the conversation was meant to go at this point. All she could think to do was bring light to the subconscious questions that were brewing in her heart, even if she wasn't sure she wanted to have them answered.

"I don't know."

Such a nice three words. They said everything that needed to be said without saying anything at all. Maybe she should adopt them as her new catchphrase.

"I don't hate you either." She whispered, mildly surprised to find that the words were true.

The two lapsed back into silence, simply holding their position until a fresh chill ran down their bodies. Even in their half-hearted embrace, the warmth they shared wasn't enough to hold back the elements.

"I'm starting to hate the cold though." Suou muttered. It was difficult for her to make sense of this whole situation, but she knew that things were not idea for either of them. If they had to stay here like this, it was only going to get worse. Just where the hell was Hei anyway? Hadn't he been nearby during the whole ordeal? What if he'd been spotted by the sniper? Could he possibly be-

 _No!_

She blocked up the treacherous thought, snuffing it out before it could fully form. If there was one thing she knew about Hei, it was that he was stubborn. Stubborn enough to make a brick wall look reasonable. He was the kind of guy who wouldn't die even if he was killed. He would be, no, he _was_ fine, so all she had to do was wait until he arrived and they'd find a way to sort things out. It had worked so far, so there was no reason to doubt it would again.

Of course, that didn't help much with her current problem.

"What are we going to do, Tanya?" She muttered, more for the sake of voicing her thoughts than getting any actual feedback. "Do you think we should make a run for it?"

"Not without getting sight of the shooter." The blonde replied, to her surprise. "If the cold gets worse, I can call up a swarm of insects to act as insulation for us."

"Absolutely not." Suou stated flatly, her fingers digging into Tanya's shoulders for emphasis. She might be uncertain about a lot of things right now, but she knew that the idea of having a million tiny bug-legs crawling all over her would be a worse fate than any amount of hypothermia. If it came to that, she'd rather risk being shot. At least the bullet would kill her quickly.

"We could attempt to make a fire by breaking the benches." She offered, though even without any real emphasis in her voice, it was obvious she didn't have much faith in that idea. It wasn't as though they had anything to get an ember going, and those things weren't designed to burn.

Suou closed her eyes, doing her best to shut out the niggling thoughts and worries that were burning in her brain. They wouldn't help her right now. What she needed was focus, and constantly doubting the things going through her head would only-

"The showers!" She jumped up suddenly, receiving a jolt of pain through her back for her troubles. "The locker room's showers might still have warm water!"

Still on the floor, Tanya looked up to her incredulously.

"That seems unlikely." She pointed out. "If the building isn't being manned, they probably don't have any running water to begin with, much less heated water."

"Well… they didn't empty the pool did they?" Suou countered, choosing to ignore the fact that those two things didn't really have anything to do with one another. "Maybe they left in a rush. It should be worth checking at least, right?"

Tanya simply peered up at her with that unreadable expression before, without a word, she rose to her feet. Still damp and lightly shivering, she made to follow behind.

As she stood, Suou had a chance to take in the sight of her body, and was momentarily blindsided by a rather sudden thought. She had never really stopped to consider the differences in their stature before. Tanya had always been a little taller than her, but the rest of the girl was… fuller. Her legs. Hips. Br- er… chest. She'd never really considered herself as body-conscious, and she had less reason to be now, but for a second she couldn't help but hear herself thinking;

 _Are we really about the same age?_

"Suou?" She asked, causing the redhead to flinch. "Is something wrong?"

"N-No, nothing." She replied just a touch too quickly, as she turned to leave. "Nothing's wrong. Now come on, we need to get searching."

* * *

As it turned out, finding the showers was the easy part. They weren't really hidden to begin with after all, and sign on the door would have given them away even if they were. No, the hard part came after.

"Gah!" Suou gasped, feeling the metal knob break off in her hand. She was only just able to catch herself as her heavy pulling was suddenly released. "Ugh… This one isn't working either."

There were twelve shower stalls, and already seven had proven useless. Most didn't react at all when the water was turned on, no doubt cut off. One had trembled for a short while before sputtering up something brown and foul smelling, before falling quiet again. Adding the one she broke, they were quickly running out of options. She hadn't meant to snap it off like that, but the combination of rusted valves, frustration, and a set of fingers that were quickly going numb, made for complications.

"Neither is this one." Tanya replied from the next stall. Despite the fact that she'd begun outright shaking from the cold, her voice still remained even and emotionless. That tone still bothered Suou, even if she knew she had bigger things to worry about at the moment.

She bit her tongue, trying to keep from letting out her growing irritation show through. It hadn't exactly been the brightest of plans to begin with seeing as they still didn't have anything to dry off with. Even if they found one that was working, they'd either run out of hot water and be back to square one, or she'd have to find some way to explain to Hei why she was practically naked in a shower after their brush with death, and wait for him to find a way to warm them up.

Unbidden, a furious blush exploded on her features as she realized what those thoughts sounded like. She really had to stop doing that.

"Come on…" She growled under her breath, working her way to the next shower stall. No matter how much she tried, she just couldn't keep calm. Her strange conflicting feelings revolving around Tanya. Her growing confinement in this situation. All the little slights and wounds that had amassed on her mind over the past few weeks.

She hated feeling this way, but, as it turned out, frustration was a tool that could be put to good use.

So caught up in her own internal struggles, Suou didn't merely flip the lever for the next shower. She grabbed a hold of the bare metal and, using far more force than she'd intended to, ripped it back with enough force to wedge it all the way down.

The action caught her by surprise, nearly causing her to jump at the sound of metal grinding on metal. But before she could become annoyed with herself, another sound quickly followed.

Deep within the pipes, something shuddered. The resounding metallic echo of empty plumbing being filled reached her ears, causing her to freeze in surprise.

And then it hit her. Quite literally hit her. Just as her mind was starting to process the racket reverberating through the metalwork, a sudden spray of water struck her directly in the face as the shower-head opened up.

It was frigid. Frightfully cold, but as she fell back, landing on her rear in the puddle that was now forming all around her, the water temperature began to climb. Cool. Tepid. Warm. Hot. Very hot. It was scalding, but she didn't care. All she knew was that it shoved away the blanket of ice that had been descending on her like the blessing of an angel.

Suou let out a quick laugh born of pure relief as the water washed over her body. After a moment of enjoying the sensation, she remembered she wasn't the only one here.

"Tanya!" She called. "I found one that works! It actually works!"

As it turned out, she didn't need to yell at all since the blonde girl was about a foot behind her, having walked up as soon as she heard the flowing water. Suou didn't let herself get hung up on the lack of attention on her part, too overcome by the sheer silly euphoria of relief at the fact that _something_ had _finally_ worked out in her favor. Quickly getting to her feet, she pressed herself back against the side of the shower stall, making room.

"Come on." She urged. "It's nice and warm. I promise."

"I can see that." Tanya replied, giving a pointed look to the steam that had already started to rise. She carefully slipped into the space, easing herself into the stream of heated water like a wary kitten at the edge of a bathtub. That act disappeared quickly when she got a taste of the warmth, and it wasn't long before she was pressed up close to Suou in order to get as much of herself under the stream as possible.

For her part, the smaller girl couldn't bring herself to do anything but grin like a fool. The stall was cramped, the water was a bit over the top in terms of heat, and she could still feel the cold air nipping at whatever part of her wasn't directly under the shower, but she knew that this was a blessing of some kind.

Speaking logically, there was no reason that her plan should have worked. It was obvious that the water had been canceled after the first few attempts, so, unless each shower had its own individual source to draw on, it should have been all or nothing. Maybe there was some kind of switch somewhere to control flow for whatever reason. Maybe they really _did_ come from separate sources, and this one had been left forgotten. Maybe it was just weird Contractor voodoo magic that she wasn't aware of kicking in. Whatever it was, someone had forgotten to cut off the water source to this shower, and Suou had never been happier that another person had failed to do their job.

She could feel her limbs again, the encroaching numbness vanishing after a minute or two of exposure to the warm embrace of their little sanctuary. Her back was throbbing again, distinctly unhappy to have water flowing over it, but compared to the alternative, it was a tiny discomfort.

Suou breathed out, thoroughly enjoying the sensation of heated air entering her lungs. It shouldn't have been such a big deal, not really, but after what she'd just gone through, the novelty of being able to feel something like this at all was getting to her. She hadn't realized just how much the cold was getting to her until she'd warmed up again.

"Hey…" She began, feeling a light and bubbly sensation that she didn't recognize rising in her chest. "What do you think-"

She got no further than that. As she looked up to Tanya, she found the other girl's eyes were closed. Her head was tilted up gently, turned towards the shower with her lips half-parted as she savored the warmth. Little droplets rolled down her neck, streaming off her shoulders in rivulets. The picture caused Suou's mouth to go dry in an instant, and for the first time in a long while, she knew why.

For that singular moment, Tanya looked human again.

But then her treacherous remark was acknowledged, and the spell was broken. Tanya's eyes opened, the steely blue gaze she'd inherited meeting Suou's with her unreadable mask of emptiness. The transition, so instantaneous and complete, was like a punch to the gut that reminded her of everything that had happened up to that point.

"What do I think of what?" Tanya questioned when she didn't continue her thought. There was no particular interest in her tone beyond the request to hear it out.

Even with the hot water pouring down on them, Suou felt cold.

"Is something wrong?" She asked again after she didn't get a response. For her part, Suou couldn't meet her gaze, looking down instead as she clenched her hands together tightly.

"I don't…" She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to do. The more she tried to reason things out in her head, the more tangled it all became. When she fought to see through the impartial eyes of a Contractor, her entire world just became less understandable by the minute. Hei didn't want her to shoot. July displayed reactions and attachments despite being a Doll. And Tanya…

Suou took a breath, held it in, and slowly let it out. She forced back the stiffness in her limbs, and with hesitant movements, reached out to grasp the other girl's wrists. She straightened up at the touch, but gave no protest.

She didn't know what she was doing, but she decided that she was fine with that. Trying to think things through had gotten her nowhere. Nothing made sense anymore, and nobody could give her a straight answer. She didn't know if she was a true Contractor, or some kind of aberration, but either way, she was going stop fighting to reason with such an unreasonable world.

"Tanya…?" She ventured, barely speaking above a whisper. "I want to try something."

She didn't say what it was because she didn't rightly know herself. By this point, all she knew was that she needed to see once and for all if the little glimpses of her old friend were actually there, or just another delusion of her battered sanity. She stopped trying to think about the logical thing that drove her and let instinct take over.

Tanya didn't reply, simply looking down at her with a questioning glance. This time, Suou forced herself to meet the gaze head on, looking back at her with determination. Gently, she tugged the other girl's arms closer, bringing her forward in the confined space so that their bodies were almost touching.

Suou was, to put it lightly, freaking out on the inside, but she fought back the voices telling her to step back. One way or another, she would have her answer here and now.

With her heart racing in her chest, and only half an idea of what she was actually doing, she pushed forwards on her toes, rising up to meet the girl who'd changed her life in more ways than one.

Her eyes drifted closed, and before she could let herself back down, their lips touched.

Suou had never kissed anyone before. There had certainly been the occasional peck on the cheek with her father and brother, but never the real thing. It was such a strange sensation. The discomfort of being forced to raise herself up, mixed with the stomach churning sensation of having Tanya's body pressed into hers, all topped off by the oddly indescribable electricity that coursed through her as their mouths met was unlike anything she'd imagined. It was so… good? Bad? It drew her in and pushed her away at the same time, and her already addled brain was struggling just to keep up. What should have been nothing more than a chaste touch felt like something far more than that.

And then she pulled back, shaking ever so slightly as she pressed her shoulders against the walls of the shower stall. Her heart was pounding, and her mind was racing to process what she'd just done. Here, in an abandoned building, shortly after being shot at by an unknown shooter, she had just kissed someone who'd been her enemy not even an hour prior. She had, without thinking, kissed another girl even after all the horror that had gone on between them.

Why had she done that? Why would she have even conceived of it? Even as those questions smacked her in the face, she already had her answer.

Tanya hadn't moved. Her body was still positioned in the half-leaning stance, tipped forwards so that Suou could reach her. But her eyes… That was what gave Suou her answer. Her eyes were softer. Distant. Like looking through a hazy reflection of someone who wasn't sure whether they were awake or asleep. She could almost feel the way Tanya's mind was ruminating over what had just happened, just as it had been when she'd shown those little glimpses of human emotion earlier.

Lightly, she began to raise one arm out of Suou's grasp, moving her fingers to her lips with as though trying to feel out the ghost of the experience through them. She blinked once, the tiniest hints of uncertainty brewing at the furthest edges of her otherwise placed eyes.

"Did you just… kiss me?" She asked.

Suou gulped, feeling a lump rise in her throat, but managed to force up a reply. "Yes."

"Why?"

The question was so simple, and yet so terribly complex. It was, after all, the same one she'd just asked herself. But there was no logical explanation. She hadn't acted on logic.

"Because." She stated, steeling herself against the doubt that was once again trying to overtake her. "Because I care about you! Because I can't stand to see you like this! Because I'm an idiot, and so are you, and Hei, and the whole world that made this happen. Because I don't even know why! Because… I wanted to. And… I… I…"

Words were pouring out of her before she could even think about what she was trying to say. Her hands were clenched at her side, and her pulse was pounding faster than she'd thought it capable of. With a frantic gesture, her head snapped up to stare into Tanya's eyes once more, desperate to glimpse anything of the person she'd once known.

"Because I want you back! Because I don't want to lose you again! Because I… _I_ …

" _Because I love you!"_

The declaration dragged itself from her throat like a wall of ground glass, ripping her up inside and tearing free all the scars that had been sealed since Tanya's disappearance. She wanted to snatch it back and hide it away so deep that even she wouldn't remember it had ever been spoken aloud. She wanted to scream it so loud that it would reach back in time to the girl she'd seen walk into the hands of the soldiers that had taken her away. It was the beautiful, horrible, secret she'd been hiding from herself since the beginning.

It could never have worked out. They were both girls, and there was no way Tanya felt the same.

It was wrong of her to try. Nika had already done that.

Tanya was gone. The death of their friend had proven it.

There was no hope of a future together. She was a Contractor now.

All the subconscious words she'd unknowingly whispered to herself to pretend her heart didn't ache. All the little fabrications she created to pretend that everything she felt was normal. There had always been something wrong with her. Whether as a human, a Contractor, or simply a friend. She was never quite _right_. This was surely no different.

Suou was shaking now, trembling in the confines of their shared space. She stared up to Tanya with near frantic intensity, silently pleading to see something, _anything,_ resembling humanity in her eyes. Shock. Embarrassment. Disgust. She didn't care what. Just something to affirm that she could still feel.

She might as well have tried willing the sun to vanish. All she found was an unreadable mask, and that was so much worse than rejection.

"I…" She began, feeling a bitter sensation welling up in her stomach. Her gaze dropped to the floor, unable to look at Tanya's face any longer. Had she not been nearly naked, soaked, and under threat of gunfire, she might have turned to flee then and there. "I'm…"

"Shhh…" Suou flinched in surprise as she felt fingers gently curl around her chin, urging her to look up. Some small part of her mind instinctively urged her to resist, fighting back like a child trying to block out the dark beneath their blanket, but the insistent tug of Tanya's hand pulled her from her hiding place.

"Suou…" She whispered, causing the smaller girl's breath to catch. "Look at me…"

She did. Unable to do anything else, she slowly turned to meet Tanya's eyes. The eyes that drew her in. The eyes that terrified her with their emptiness. The ones she both feared and desired. She-

"Mph!" With a smothered cry of surprise, she found her mouth quickly covered by Tanya's lips. With her back already to the wall, she could do nothing but freeze as her kiss was returned.

It was different from before. Where Suou had been impulsive, acting purely on her internal drive, Tanya was calculated. The way she pressed herself against the girl was almost like an equation, working out the proper pressure and movement to complete the action. It was imperfect. Logical more than emotional. But it was still a kiss.

Just when Suou thought she was going to suffocate, Tanya pulled back, hovering several inches away as their eyes met again. Though they were still nothing like the kind, smiling, reflections of the girl she'd once been, the intensity they now held took her breath away.

And then she was drowning. Not in water, but something else. She half-lurched forwards, driving against the blonde girl as she made contact once again. It was wrong. All of it. The whole situation and everything that was happening, but she couldn't stop herself. She wanted… no… _needed_ , to feel this intimacy.

Suou whimpered into Tanya's mouth, feeling the blonde's arms wrap around her and draw her closer. Every movement, ever action, was thought out and mechanical, but the fact that it was happening at all outweighed the strangeness. Feeling her touch tracing across her skin gave Suou a thrill like electric flame, setting her veins alight in ways she hadn't thought possible. Before she knew it, Tanya was the one against the wall as she unwittingly pushed further and further forwards, one hand in the other girl's hair while the other snaked around her waist.

And that was when she felt something pressing against her lips. Something warm and wet that urged her to open the way. Without even being fully aware of her own actions, she complied, letting Tanya's tongue inside and meeting it with her own.

Suou's head was spinning now. Her mind was being overwhelmed by the girl in her arms. All she could see was Tanya when she opened her eyes. All she could feel was her body as she caressed her skin. All she could smell was the scent of her, amplified by the cramped space they occupied. And the taste…

She pulled away with a start, gasping for breath as she tried to regain her reeling senses. She couldn't think straight. Every thought was dominated by the need to get closer, and the steam that was rising from the heated shower wasn't helping matters at all. The way it misted around Tanya's face only served to pull her further into the depths, crowning the girl with a watery veil that gave her an almost elf-like sense of mysticism.

Undeterred by her reaction, Tanya leaned in, pressing her lips to Suou's cheek and working her way down. Suou could only gasp lightly as she felt Tanya's tongue begin to trace along her neck while her arms began to slip along her sides. The ticklish, flickering, touches drew sounds from her that she had no words to describe, halfway between gasps and giggles, while releasing a cloud of butterflies in her chest.

"Tanya…?" She questioned. She wasn't sure what she was asking by that point, only that it felt like the right thing to do. As if in answer, the blonde stopped her tasting, and began to leave a trail of light kisses across her throat, moving back up until she found her lips again.

Distantly, Suou felt as though she should be responding this somehow. Maybe doing something with her hands? She had no idea. The experience was just too captivating to let her pause and actually think. That is, until she felt Tanya's fingers unhook her bra.

With a startled squeak that held about as much dignity as a terrified field mouse, she instinctively jumped back, hands flying to her chest in order to cover up as the cloth fell away. Despite everything they'd just been doing, her face had erupted in a shade of crimson so deep that it almost matched her hair.

"W-W-Wha-Why?" She stammered out frantically, now even more aware of how small a space they occupied than she'd been a moment ago.

"Isn't this what you wanted?" Tanya questioned back, arching one eyebrow with a bemused expression. "You kissed me and said that you loved me, didn't you? Wouldn't this be the obvious path things would take?"

Yes. No. Maybe. She still wasn't completely caught up with everything that was happening to be honest. The fact that her thoughts were bouncing back and forth between a million different topics wasn't helping matters. Despite her state of mind however, the separation gave her the pause she needed to bring back some semblance of clarity, and that made her realize something she should have much sooner.

"Tanya…?" She asked, easing down from the tense stature she'd taken. "You… Are you doing this because you want to… or because I came out to you…?"

She didn't respond right away, and that pause made Suou want to slap herself. Of course. She was a Contractor. Contractors acted based on pure logic. If she thought that playing on Suou's attraction would be in her best interests, then-

"I'm not sure." Tanya admitted, and those three words froze her thoughts in an instant.

"I find it strange to be around you. When I'm not, things are clear and easy to understand. When you talk to me, the world makes less sense. I can look back on the memories of our past, but when you make me remember, they become something else. I don't know how to describe it other than to say you make me act strangely. I pushed this far because it felt like the right thing to do. If you want me to stop, I will stop."

Suou gulped past the block in her throat, letting the explanation that sounded eerily familiar sink in. After a short silence, she said "What about you? What do you want to do?"

After another pause, she got her answer.

"…I would prefer to continue."

Suou took a shaky breath, trying to hold back the nerves that were flittering beneath her skin. Would it have been easier if Tanya's face was anything other than a mask of impassive stoicism? Would she have felt less embarrassment if she could see it reflected in the blonde's eyes? She didn't know, but neither was she going to let that stop her now. Because even if everything was wrong, even if the whole world was a mess of super-powered killing machines, she wanted this moment.

Slowly, painfully slowly, she lowered her hands feeling Tanya's gaze flow across her bare chest like the water they were both being showered with.

Despite herself, she wasn't prepared for the first touch, and had to hold back a yelp as Tanya's fingers ran along her modest breast. She screwed her eyes shut, trying to regain her composure as the blonde cupped her chest experimentally before leaning in.

And then she was on fire.

With all the emotional conflict that was coursing through her system, Suou's nerves were exceedingly sensitive, and the first feeling of Tanya's mouth on her flesh sent a shockwave of sensation through her heart more intense than even the thrill of their previous kiss. She could feel those delicate lips trailing along her skin, hands kneading into her as though trying to drag out the sounds she was desperately trying to choke back. And when her peak was reached, it was like a firecracker going off inside her head.

"Tan-! Ah!"

Unable to do anything else, her arms flew to grasp the girl's shoulders as she felt her mouth wrap around the nub that decorated the tips of her chest. The flick of her tongue was like lightning, shooting through her heart with all the force of her anti-tank rifle and swamping her senses with a wave of guilty pleasure.

If she hadn't known better, she might have thought that Tanya was actually enjoying her reaction. The girl's motions had become smoother, more fluid and natural, and when she worked her way across to Suou's other side, taking care to leave a trail with her lips and tongue along the way, the redhead knew she needed some way to fight back or she was going to lose her mind.

As her fingers were desperately grasping at Tanya's back, she realized she had the means of doing just that.

With shaky movements that were made infinitely more difficult by the ministration of her sensitive chest, she parted the clasp on the blonde's bra, and whisked the article away with a motion that may have been just a bit too rapid.

Feeling the sudden loss of support to her… _ample proportions_ , Tanya paused her treatment, giving Suou the opening she needed to turn the situation around. Taking advantage of their positioning, she dropped to her knees, bringing her partner down with her so that the other girl was pushed back against the wall with her rear planted on the tile flooring. Suou crouched over her like a predatory cat, her goal now in sight right before her eyes.

Almost immediately, she regretted taking such a bold course of action as the sight of Tanya's developed body bared before her was almost enough to knock the wind out of her all on its own.

But she didn't dare to hesitate. Knowing that those icy blue eyes were watching her, she leaned in to press her mouth to the side of Tanya's neck. Working by feel, she slowly made her way down across her collarbone, trailing little kisses and nibbles that drew her further and further back into the haze that had held her just a short time ago. The other girl didn't moan or squeak or any of the other things that a normal person might have done under the circumstances, but Suou could feel the way her flesh shivered even under the constant deluge of the hot water pouring down on them, and the almost imperceptible hitches in her breath with each contact only made her eager to see just how far she could push those reactions.

As she worked down across Tanya's clavicle, her hands approached form the opposite direction. She slipped them up across the blonde's belly, relishing the way her stomach twitched and shifted under her touch as she began to draw closer to her destination. Suou's fingers danced along her midriff, rising higher and higher until, finally, she was rewarded with the feeling of supple softness that came from the bulges of her prominent assets.

Slowly, almost timidly, she cupped Tanya's breasts in her hands, wondering at the way they felt so different from her own. As if sensing her hesitation, the girl beneath her wrapped her arms around Suou's back, careful to avoid her cut as she urged the redhead closer. Licking her lips to draw what moisture she could, Suou complied.

Perhaps it was cowardly of her, but she didn't dive in to the sea of flesh placed before her. She chose instead to skirt the edges of the rise, tracing her tongue along Tanya's skin as she began to work her hands into her chest. She felt as though she should have had at least a general idea of what to do, seeing as she had the same… well… equipment, so to speak, but the shape and feel of Tanya's body was so different from her own that she was concerned about making a mistake.

As it turned out, Suou didn't need to worry herself. As she took in the faintly sweet and salty taste of her skin, she could feel Tanya's fingers begin to clench tighter against her back as her breath gradually quickened. It was such a small thing, but compared to what she'd experienced so far, it was like a brilliant spotlight had been shown on the blonde's face, and all Suou could think of doing was doing everything in her power to draw that humanity further into the open.

Emboldened, she rapidly made her way to the tip of the rise, and took the peak of Tanya's skin into her mouth.

A single jerk ran through her body, and that was all Suou needed. Feeling her own stomach fluttering with a kind of heat that she'd never known before, she began to run her tongue around the sensitive spot in circles, taking in the wonderful feeling of the normally stone-faced girl slowly losing herself to the moment.

But she wasn't done with her mission yet. Leaving her perch with no small amount of regret, she started to cross towards the next, leaving a path of small pecks as she went, with a deeper kiss left behind in the valley between her hills. Had she been consciously thinking about her actions, she might have died from the rush of blood to her head that would have accompanied her embarrassment, but she'd already left those thoughts behind.

By the time she ascended to the top of Tanya's second mound, the blonde's breath was noticeably uneven, and a faint blush was coloring her cheeks. No sooner had Suou's lips caught onto her pink summit than Tanya's hands darted to the back of her head, pushing her deeper into the warm skin in a tight embrace. For her part, she was all too happy to stimulate the girl as best she could with her now-limited range of motion.

The feeling was euphoric. Being held so close, tasting the girl she cared for on her tongue, exploring each other's bodies so intimately, she could have stayed like this forever.

Tanya, it appeared, could not.

Before she realized what was happening, Suou found herself being pulled from Tanya's chest and laid on her back. She instinctively closed her eyed, bracing for the spray of water from above, only to find that she wasn't being showered. Cracking one eye open, she saw why.

Tanya's face was only inches above her, hair dripping with a steady stream of water that flowed across the back of her head. She was staring down with the kind of hungry intensity that Suou had only ever witnessed in dreams and story-fueled fantasies. Softly, she leaned in, planting a deep and meaningful kiss on the redhead's lips before she started to pull back and turn around.

Suou knew what was happening. By now, she couldn't _not_ have known, but the sight of Tanya shifting in place, moving so that her knees straddled the smaller girl's head and her own was placed between Suou's legs caused her already overtaxed heart to practically explode in her chest. She was incredibly thankful for the sound of the shower dominating the area, because she was fairly sure the hammering against the inside of her ribcage would have been far too noticeable otherwise.

She felt slim fingers running along her inner thigh, drawing little swooping patterns in her skin before coming to pause at the edge of the last garment she still wore. By now, her panties had been so waterlogged by the shower that they had almost embedded themselves in her skin, but after a little effort, she felt those same fingers slip beneath the edge and stop.

This was a choice. If she wanted to, she could stop this now. She understood that.

Instead, Suou raised her hips, allowing Tanya to peel back the soaked garment and slip them up along her legs. The sudden touch of air on her nether regions caused her insides to squirm, but she had her own priorities to take care of. As her underwear was pulled along her calves, she took hold of Tanya's own, working her fingers under the cloth and, if she was honest, taking a bit more time than was strictly necessary rubbing her thumbs along the blonde's rear.

With a bit of finesse, she managed to pull back the girl's panties, slipping them down to her knees, and bracing herself for what lay in store.

It didn't matter in the end. No amount of preparation could have left her ready. Even after what they'd done so far, the sight of Tanya's lower area hovering above her face was far and wide above anything she could have readied herself for. To see it so close, feeling the other girl's breath on her own entrance, sent such chills and fire through her veins that she feared she may well pass out.

And then came the touch. All this time, she'd thought she'd felt the extent of what Tanya's presence could do to her, but those illusions were shattered the instant the blonde laid her first kiss on her private area. The feeling was like an explosion of euphoria that shook her straight to the core, causing her to gasp despite herself as her over-sensitive body jolted in place. As ever, Tanya was quick to capitalize, lapping at her skin between the meeting point of her hips and thighs and rapidly moving towards her final bastion.

Suou could no longer help herself. With such pleasure running through her head, all she could think to do in that situation was lean in and return the advances. She didn't stop to think. With breathless little pants rising up in her throat, she took the plunge, and opened her mouth to Tanya's womanhood.

It was everything she'd ever dreamed of. It was nothing she could have imagined. Their connection took all her expectations and shattered them around her head, letting them fall to the ground and mix into something so utterly foreign to her perception she didn't know what to make of it any longer. All she could focus on was the sensations that were assaulting her as her tongue explored the one she loved.

She was dizzy, submerged, disoriented, and freefalling in a place she couldn't think to name. Her partner's mouth slipped between her legs, sending rockets of tingling light up and down her spine with each flick and touch. Each little kiss. Each movement. Every exploration as she started to feel herself opening up to her.

And Suou answered in kind, drinking in the smell and taste and feeling of Tanya's most private place, pausing only to breathe and offer fair attention to the girl's inner thigh and nearby regions. She'd thought it impossible to read the girl a short while ago, but now she was hypervigilant, noting every tiny twitch and movement with dutiful focus as she fought to keep her head above the sea of pleasure she was feeling.

A long, slow, and surprisingly feminine sound that Suou quickly recognized as a moan issued up from above her. It was like beautiful music, and she immediately set about trying to call it back as she redoubled her efforts at eliciting more of the wonderful sounds from the girl.

It didn't take her long to find the perfect target. While Tanya had been working her outer ring, she turned her attention to the blonde's sheltered region. A tiny nub of flesh that drew her in and promised the key to her outlet.

It delivered. As soon as her lips touched down on Tanya's most sensitive region, the girl's legs clamped around her head like a vice and an involuntary sound of delight poured out from her center. Suou basked in the feeling that came with it, not the least bit bothered by the pressure of the thighs crushing in on her so long as she could create such a reaction.

Her victory however, didn't last for very long. Her advance had only served to momentarily delay Tanya's attentions, and now, she was looking to return the favor. Seeing her own opportunity in sight, her tongue darted under the light barrier of skin and made contact with the bundle of nerves beneath.

The Suou nearly cried out, only managing to bite back her muffled scream at the last second as she was enraptured by the feeling of being touched in such a way. She trembled, tears springing to her eyes as she let out subdued little noises into Tanya's flesh. Unwilling to be left behind, she returned to her goal, alternating between teasing her lower peak and exploring her depths while Suou's hands tried to grab as much of the girl's body as they could.

She didn't know how long the two of them stayed like that, completely drunk on their own shared experience, but eventually, through the blissful haze of pleasure, she started to feel a warmth in her belly that heralded something far more powerful.

"Tanya! Wait!" She shouted, drawing back from the girl's entrance with a sudden surge of urgency. "Please sit up!"

The blonde followed her direction without question, disentangling herself from the web of limbs they'd created and rising back to a sitting position as Suou made to follow her. Desperate to return to the feeling she'd been so close to just moments ago, the redhead wasted no time in orienting herself with one leg beneath Tanya's while the other curved around her back. Before she knew it, they were wrapped in each other's arms again, with their lower portions on the verge of touching.

Without pause, they both pushed into one another, all other sensation, be it the water flowing around them or the chill of the air or even the sounds of the building, fading into the background as a new wave of joy erupted in their hearts. It was intense in all the right ways. Pushing, pulling, dragging her down further into the mists of something she wanted so much. Across from her, Tanya's formerly impassive face was slackened with pleasure, a sweet, rosy tint coloring her cheeks as she ground against her. Suou had to bite her tongue in order to hold back all the noise that threatened to pour out of her, and even in that she was only mildly successful, still leaking out with little half-whimpering sounds as they rose higher and higher.

"T-Tanya!" She called out, feeling a surge of need course through her as the girl's eyes met her own once again. Without a word, she lunged forth, pressing her lips to Tanya's and kissing her as deeply as she could. The blonde answered in kind, welcoming her actions with one hand while keeping the other to balance herself.

They pushed further, pressing into one another as though trying to actively force themselves into each other's body, all the while, growing closer and closer to the final peak of their coitus. Suou was beside herself, completely lost in the moment as she felt the heat inside her build up to a critical boiling point, threatening to spill over until-

With a smothered cry of ecstasy, her body convulsed in rapture as her mind was wiped away by the sudden rush of pleasure she'd never known before. In her arms, Tanya did the same, nearly toppling to the ground as she struggled to maintain her balance through the overwhelming rush.

For their own private eternity, the two of them locked into their mutual explosion, blind to everything as the tidal wave of brilliant sunspots slowly began to drain through their systems. Suou was panting for breath, too overcome by the almost painfully intense rollercoaster that her insides had flown through, and caring for nothing but the shaking girl she clung to.

Forever and a day, they stayed like that, consumed by one another until, lightheaded and out of breath, they finally began to drift down from their apex. The smooth flow back to earth carried her mind like a cloud of downy feathers, and brought with it the tingling aftertaste of their shared adventure. The water had long since turned tepid, and she knew that there was a big stupid grin plastered across her face, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Not so long as they could be together like this.

She looked up, wanting to look into Tanya's eyes one last time before they had to move. Expecting her to do the same, she was somewhat surprised to find that the blonde was not looking at her, but rather at something just over her shoulder.

And then, all the incredible feeling she'd experienced was replaced by sheer, utter, and complete horror in the time it took to speak a single sentence.

" _Good god! July! Cover your eyes!"_

Like a cat dropped into a bucket of ice water, Suou whipped around at lightning speed, nearly knocking over Tanya in the process. Her eyes went wide, and her insides turned completely to ice upon seeing that they were no longer alone.

Standing just outside the shower stall door were three very familiar figures that she desperately _didn't_ want to see right now. Two were currently combined as July stood impassively with Mao stretched across his face, desperately trying to block out the boy's gaze with his tiny borrowed body. The scene would have been comical under any other circumstance, but right now, it was more terrifying than any Contractor.

Except for one. Beside them, the object of her absolute worst nightmare stood looking down at the two naked girls, with a detached kind of vague interest over his face.

"Hei…" She squeaked in terror, feeling her limbs turn to jelly even as she quickly did her best to cover up. This was not the reunion she'd been hoping for, and given the circumstances, she couldn't even fall back on the old adage of getting mad at the guy who walked in without knocking.

Hei said nothing, merely looking to her, and then flicking his gaze to Tanya, who wasn't even attempting to hide her nudity. He repeated the gesture several times, looking back and forth between the two of them, until he finally settled on the blonde.

"Your superiors are dead." He stated bluntly, his voice somehow completely formal and businesslike despite the situation.

"Then I no longer have any reason to hunt you." Tanya replied, not missing a beat.

"You know where we are, and have information which could be harmful to us if it were to fall into the wrong hands."

"So it would be in my best interests to come with you?"

"That it would."

And just like that, Hei showed up, turned a loving and private moment into a catastrophe, and negotiated a complete change in allegiances with just a few choice words. Had she been less blindsided by what had just happened, Suou might have had the presence of mind to be impressed. Or hate him. Or something.

"Who- Wha- _How long have you been standing there!?"_ She practically shrieked, glaring accusing with all the control she could muster, which was very little as it turned out.

"Long enough." He replied, turning on his heel. "Now get dressed. Both of you. We're not staying here."

He walked away, a faintly blushing but otherwise stoic July in tow, while Mao sent accusatory stern looks over the boy's shoulder. Before long, she was left alone again with Tanya, stewing in an odd mixture of humiliation and total confusion. Still, as she turned back to find the other girl looking to her expectantly, she couldn't feel all bad about it.

She leaned in, kissing Tanya's cheek lightly before standing up.

"Come on." She said, offering a hand. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

"You know; I'm surprised you guys managed to slip in here so easily. Did you sneak past the sniper or something?"

"Mmmh. Sniper was it?"

"Wait, what? Hold on, are you saying you don't believe me?"

"Suou, I know you're around that age. Urges are natural. I'm not going to judge you for your choice in partner, but maybe consider who they work for and where you are before things get out of hand."

"WHAT!? You honestly think I did all this just to get _laid!?_ Are you serious!? The gunshot! You must have heard the gunshot!"

"Now calm down for a minute. There's no need to-"

"No! No! Don't tell me to be calm! I can't believe you think I'd lie about that right now! You know what? Fine! July! Tanya! Let's go! Here's what I think of your lack of trust!"

" _Wait a minute! July? Suou? New girl? Hei, what are you doing? We just found her, don't just let them leave!"_

"It's fine Mao. They'll be back."

" _Oh for- At least put some clothes on first! You people are insane!"_


End file.
